Yes, I'd like to cash in on this relationship, please.

   Dowry is a concept that both boggles my mind and makes perfect sense. From medieval times and even up to today in some cultures it was and is customary for one or both parties of a marriage to make some sort of material settlement to pay for the union of two people, in love or otherwise. Jimmy Zizmo stood to make a substantial amount of money for his marriage to Sourmelina and as we saw later in the text with lines like, "No dowry!...Why did you get married, then?..." and "If you don't get paid, don't get married,"it also seems to be the main selling point (pun intended) for him. Clearly he does not care very deeply for Sourmelina; in fact he does not really seem to care at all about her happiness. Because of this and his focus on the monetary gains of marrying a foreign girl he ends up treating his wife "more like a daughter than a wife... howling over the price and necklines of her outfits," generally being more concerned with the cost and behavior of his marriage than any other facet.
   We also see issues of inheritance in Silence, obviously, since it is, in fact, one of the key points of the story. Firstly, Queen Eufeme herself used as an object with which the Norwegian king uses to end the war with King Evan. Secondly, Silence is raised his whole life as a boy and is only told of the fact that he was born a girl when he became a preteen. This was, presumably, hard for Silence to understand at first but it becomes clear that he will in fact keep the secret for his own sake and that of his parents when he says "Don't worry the least little bit/ So help me God, I will do it/ I will conceal myself from everyone." It is an issue that continually arises in the story as Silence must work hard to conceal his secret, especially when Queen Eufeme begins to desire him sexually and the struggle becomes not only to conceal himself, but also to stay on the queen's good side so that she doesn't have him killed for being a heretic as the French seems to imply.
   The reason that these concepts seem somewhat logical to me comes about differently in each story. In the case of Middlesex the dowry paid by Sourmelina's family is to ensure that the man they are giving her to will keep her and at least minimally care for her. In the case of Silence, specifically that of Eufeme, the king of Norway must weigh which is more important; the marriage of his daughter, or the lives of his people.
   These circumstances are however, very objectifying for the women involved and a clear statement of the role of women beyond that of wife and caretaker in the far, and not so far past.